Come Clean
by Dragon and the Wild Mage
Summary: Song-fic to Come Clean by Hilary Duff.... about Daine looking in a pond at Midsummer and finding her true love. Who will Daine see, if she does? HINT: DN fluff! Read and REVIEW please!


The idea for this song fic, and you know how horrible my other one is, so hopefully this one is better, but, the idea just kind of sprang on me while I was listening to the radio. Thank you, elvenprinzcess, for helping me with my question about the title, kind of, lol. I don't even know if you are reading this, but I just wanted to let you know that you aren't useless. There are fluffie bunnies in this fic also, more to make up for the fact that there hasn't been a lot in our other fic...so ENJOY!!

Now, this is Daine talking to King Jonathan, just in case that you didn't know what the heck this situation was. Well, this is the part when in the Realms of the Gods that they are JUST about to face the skinners, actually, I mean when Jon is telling them kind of about it and well... if you are confused even more. Just go check out the book, but you should know what I mean, I hope, I might be horrible at explaining things. And I just realized that they, meaning Daine and Numair, left Port Legann separately, well, just for the sake of my sanity, pretend that they were riding together. Okay? Got that? Good...oh well.....here goes!

Disclaimer: All the stuff that you recognize belongs to the almighty Tamora Pierce and the lyrics to Hilary Duff. THE REST BELONGS TO THE GREAT HERA!! Aherm, I meant Eunae!!! Sorry, inside joke.... ;) OH!! And also one of the lines is Shane West's, or was it Mandy Moore, from A Walk to Remember, can ya guess which one? Lol.

Oh, and the song is **Come Clean **by **Hilary Duff **if you didn't guess already..........

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Let's go back  
Back to the beginning  
Back to when the earth, the sun, the stars all aligned**

(FLASHBACK)

"Look at the bright side. It's Midsummer's Day—maybe the gods will throw some luck at us!" (King Jon)

"Midsummer—do you know, I'd fair forgotten?" Daine smiled wryly. "Maybe I'll look in a pond along the way and find out who my true love will be."

(END FLASHBACK)

**'Cause perfect didn't feel so perfect  
Trying to fit a square into a circle  
Was no life  
I defy  
**

_Odds bobs, whatever in Mithros' name possessed me to say that to him? _Thought Daine to herself as she remembered what she said to Jon before they left to try to defeat the Skinners. Now, Daine and Numair were on their way to the village where the Skinners had struck and were taking a quick stop to rest the horses.

As she relieved herself quickly and returned, she contemplated, "_Besides, if anyone _did_ want to be my true love, he would have to be able to deal with the fact that I'm not like the typical Court lady. But then, Perin is a clerk, which is a job that is fairly common, and he seems to cope with me well. I shouldn't fool myself, after all, I _think_ I would be content to live out my days just serving Jon – and working with Numair_, Daine quickly added.

**  
Let the rain fall down  
And wake my dreams  
Let it wash away  
My sanity  
'Cause I wanna feel the thunder  
I wanna scream  
Let the rain fall down  
I'm coming clean, I'm coming clean  
**

While Daine saddled up Spots and Cloud again, she glanced over at Numair who was tying his raven hair into a fresh horsetail.

(A/N: Honestly, is there a difference between a horse and ponytail? Lol...sorry that was random. It just popped into my head, and I wanted to throw it out to all you guyz so u get another peek into my daily thoughts. JUST KIDDING!! But honestly, if you have an opinion on that, tell me, cuz I'm pretty curious. Now back to the story!)

She observed as he carefully placed all the strands of his hair neatly and his face thereafter. Daine looked at his face from his intelligent and emotional eyes to his sensitive mouth that so easily stretched into smiles, especially for her, his magelet. She didn't know that she was staring until he asked her, "Is something wrong?" with just a little quirk from the corner of his mouth which made her heart flip.

**  
I'm shedding  
Shedding every color  
Trying to find a pigment of truth  
Beneath my skin  
**

"Um, no. I was just, er, thinking," replied Daine quickly to hide her embarrassment at being caught staring like a love sick cow at her teacher, _which I am _not, said Daine to herself fiercely. _I absolutely _do_ not love Numair who is my _teacher, Daine told herself again, as if she was reminding herself _not_ to fall in love with him. _Besides, even if I did, which I don't, I would admit it to myself, wouldn't I? I mean, of course I would._

It was then that Daine became conscious that Numair was looking at her oddly because she had sat in silence for a few minutes while debating inside of herself.

"Numair, I'm going to shape-shift and look around a bit, even though it's raining. After all, the rain and wind are quite light and are unlikely to change," Daine said.

Numair considered this for a moment. "Be careful and return quickly. It's not as if we need to know much of our surroundings," he warned. Daine just smiled at him and, impulsively, hugged him tightly and shape-shifted into an eagle. Numair looked up at her and sighed a little sigh of envy as he watched her go through the air with the wind ruffling her feathers. He came to understand how much he desired to shape-shift along with her, but he had to save his Gift for the Skinners, sadly.

**  
'Cause different  
Doesn't feel so different  
And going out is better  
Than always staying in  
Feel the wind  
**

Daine, as the eagle, flew up high in the sky, once looking back at Numair and flapping a wing at him, in sign of a hello. He waved excitedly back and then resumed on saddling up the horses again. The wild mage smiled inside herself and then concentrated on what she was up there for. She scanned the area but could make out very little even though the rain was not heavy. Daine tried to look harder but it was in vain. She wondered what was wrong with herself, but just decided to go with what she saw. Which wasn't all that much since all that she perceived was just flat land with nothing to disturb them, especially now that rain had settled in.

Daine wheeled around and began to return the way she had come, and even though her feathers were wet and keeping her down, she soared to the best of her ability on the wind. The wild mage basked in this feeling of exhilaration and thought of how lucky she was to be able to shape-shift, especially, giving that, she despised feeling cooped up and enjoyed being outside.

**  
Let the rain fall down  
And wake my dreams  
Let it wash away  
My sanity  
'Cause I wanna feel the thunder  
I wanna scream  
Let the rain fall down  
I'm coming clean, I'm coming clean  
**

When she saw Numair's tall and lanky shape as well as those of the horses under a tree, she grabbed her clothes that Numair had set for her, quickly changed, and returned.

"We should leave right away if we are going to deal with those Skinners soon," suggested Daine.

"Of course, magelet. I have everything ready for us."

"Thanks, Numair. Everything's clear for miles, at least that I could see. It's probably due to this weather that we are having right now, oh and Numair. I'm going to take a quick drink from the pond and then come back, all right?" she asked.

"Daine, I just got you fresh clothes. Don't you think that you would rather wait until later, or at least until it stops raining?" questioned Numair.

"Oh bother. These clothes won't stay fresh very long, Numair. Anyways, I'm going to get wet on our ride so it will just be a pre-soak," said Daine with a goofy smile.

"Daine-" but Numair stopped right where he was for he saw that the young woman had already left and just shook his head.

The wild mage of Tortall began laughing when she saw that she had left Numair standing right where he was. She snorted and then knelt down on the edge of pond and drank deeply of the cool and sweet water. Daine stared at ripples made by the rain lazily, watching as the raindrops plip-plopped and then created a series of rings in the water. She was just about to leave when the ripples cleared for a brief time and revealed the face of Numair.

**I'm coming clean  
Let the rain fall  
Let the rain fall  
I'm coming...  
**

"Numair!" gasped Daine and then was suddenly hit with a realization. "You-y-you are my true love!" she sputtered.

The black robed mage just gazed at her solemnly but didn't agree or deny anything.

"Now would be the time to say something," whispered Daine with tears in her eyes.

Numair didn't say anything still but moved forward and cupped her face with one large hand. To him, she looked as fragile as an egg in his hand but as beautiful as the Goddess herself.

He leaned forward and placed his lips on her own, feeling a rush of adrenaline flowing from their lips to the rest of his body. His hands shifted to embrace her body, bring her to her feet, and draw her closer to him. They broke apart for air but their lips quickly found the other. Numair could feel the hands of Daine move to his hair and entangle themselves there. The hands of his self were toying with the sensitive flesh at her waist making her shiver in delight at times. "I love you," murmured Numair.

Numair's lips moved toward her jaw line and neck, where she squealed in surprise at the boldness of him, but she realized that she didn't mind but rather enjoyed it. Daine pressed herself more firmly in his embrace and guided his lips back to her own which pouted for attention.

He felt her long lashes against his cheek and tried to memorize the taste of her sweet lips. Neither of them wanted this passionate kiss to end but they had to break apart, again due to the lack of air. Each smiled weakly at each other but Numair picked Daine up in his own arms and started carrying her toward their horses. Daine nestled herself against his chest and sighed for happiness at how protected she felt in the arms of Numair, her true love.

**Let the rain fall down  
And wake my dreams  
Let it wash away  
My sanity  
'Cause I wanna feel the thunder  
I wanna scream  
Let the rain fall down  
I'm coming clean, I'm coming clean  
**

Numair placed her on Cloud gently and kissed her one more time, lingeringly. He then climbed up on Spots with some difficulty that didn't miss the trained eye of Daine and she cracked a smile. Daine recalled how she never thought that she would meet her true love on this mission with Numair who turned out to be her love. But then thoughts which were not all good came to mind, but she brushed them away and concentrated on only one thing-his apparent love.

"I love you, Numair," said Daine.

He smiled a sweet smile that made her heart melt. "I love you, too, Daine. Now, I really don't want this to end," he said with a wink, "but we really do have Skinners to deal with. Lives depend on us. I promise you, though; I will pay you back later."

"Oh, all right. Horse Lords, am I wet, thanks to a mage who will never give up his kissing, even when there are who-knows-whats that we have to deal with," joked Daine.

Numair just pretended to pout and turned away from her, but Daine crept up to his other side, leaned over, and gave him a quick, but loving kiss on his lips. She then flashed him an innocent smile and said, "Race you!" and sped off with Numair following laughing and trying hard to maintain control over his poor gelding.

And the gods above looked down from their heavenly abode and were satisfied at last.

**Let's go back  
Back to the beginning**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Okay, so how was it? horrible? Great? Well, I'll never know what you think of my song fic until u review!! Sooo I beg you, review... nah. No begging... but. I'll ask nicely.

Will you please review for me, pretty please with cherries and fudge and sprinkles on top?

THANK YOU!!!

Oh, don't forget to check out our other fics, they are all pretty much D/N so if you like that pairing, you will enjoy them!!

REVIEW!!!


End file.
